Fornia



April 27 1926.

H. V. PAYNE SAFETY PILOT 1mm CUT-OFF DEVICE FOR GAS BURNERS Filed July 8, 1924 INVENTOR.

, WW A TTORNE Y.

f6 4 :7 i 22 i Patented Apr. 27, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,582,190 PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY V. PAYNE, 01 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR ,TO PAYNE FUBNACI AN D SUPPLY COMPANY, 0! LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALI- FOBNIA.

SAFETY PILOT AND CUT-OFF DEVICE FOR GAS BUBNERS. I

Application filed July 8,

To'all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY V. Pam, a citizen of the United States residing at Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, and State of California, have invented a new and useful Safety Pilot and Cut-Ofi' Device for Gas Burners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to gas burners suitable for use in gas furnaces, water heaters, etc., in which a main burner is provided for heating purposes and is adapted to be turned on and off by means of avalve op- I erated manually or by thermostatic or other v vide for breaking the electrical control Cir automatic control, and in which a small residual or pilotflame is continually maintained for the purpose of relighting the gas at the main burner when such gas supply is turned on.

The principal object of this invention is to provide means for cutting off the supply of gas both to the pilot and to the main burner in case of extinguishment of the pilot flame, thereby l rzreventing waste of gas and eliminating t e danger of explosions resulting from the accumulation of unburned gas. v

Another object of the invention is to prevent the gas supplyto the main burner from being subsequently turned on by the operation of the manual valve or of the thermostatic or other control means, until the safety control device has been reset, so that danger of explosion on attempting to relight the main burner is avoided and a person will be advised that the pilot is out and may relight the same and reset the control device.

Another object of the invention is to provide electrical means for operation of the safety cut-01f valve, said electrical means being controlled by thermally controlled operating means in response to the cooling 01f of the pilot burner upon extinguishment thereof. 1

Another object of the invention is'to procuit upon operation of'the cut-off valve so as to prevent waste of electricity and overheating of the electrical devlce.

A further object of the invention is toprovide asimple means for resetting the.

safety control device when the pilot flame is relighted,'and to so arrange the thermally 1924. Serial No. 724,771.

controlled operating means and the electrical contact means controlled thereby that such contact means will be operated so as to cause closure of the cut-off device upon the coolin off of the pilot burner butwill not be a ected upon the heating thereof subsequent to relighting. This enables one to relight the pilot and reset the control device before the pilot burner has heated up, with the result that the main burner provided with my improved safety pilot and cut-off device.

Fig. 2 is a section on line22 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on line'3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an inverted horizontal section on line 4- 1 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an end elevation oft-he electromagnetic control means and'the valve operating means controlled thereby.

Fig. 6 is an inverted horizontal section on line 6-6 in Fig. 1 showing the cut-ofi valve.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section on line 77 in Fig. 6, position.

Fig. 8 is a detailed view of a modified form of the electrical contact means operated by-the thermally controlled means.

showing the cut-off valve in closed Referring to Fig. '1 the main burner 1,

which may be provided with the usual air mixing device 5, is connected by pipe 2 to the gas supply pipe 3, and a valve 4 is provided for turning on and off the supply of gas to the burner 1. Such valve 4 may as shown, be adapted for manual operation, and in such case it may be located adjacent the burner or at any desired distance therefrom or it ma be provided with means for remote control: for example electrically or otherwise. In case the burner is to be used.

in connection with water heaters where a certain temperature is to be maintained, valve 4 may be replaced by a thermostatically controlled valve of any of the wellknown types of such valves so as to be turned on and off in correspondence with the decrease and increase in the temperature of the water. Valve 4 may also be adapted to be turned on and olf in correspondence with the flow of water through the Water heater, when used in connection with water heaters which operate on this principle. My invention however is not concerned with the construction and operation of this valve 4 for the main burner and I have therefore shown in the drawings only a manual valve at this point. It is to be understood however that my safety pilot and cut-off valve may be used in connection with a gas burner provided with a valve adapted for operation in any of the above described manners or in anyi other way.

1 y invention comprises a pilot burner 6 located adjacent the main burner 1 and.

preferably provided with a burner tip 7 of soap stone or other suitable material adapted to assist in maintainin a small flame of the desired form. Said pilot is connected by a pipe 46 to the gas supply pipe 3, at a point preceding the main control valve 4, so that the operation of said pilot burner is independent of said valve. A thermally controlled element 8, comprising for example two metal strips 9 and 10 of unequal thermal expansions, is mounted on the side of the pilot burner and adapted to recelve heat therefrom, by conduction through the walls of the burner and through such thermal element, or otherwise. The construction and arrangement of the thermally controlled element is such that when the pilot fiame'is extin ished and the pilot burner'is consequent y cool such element occupies substan-.

tlally the position shown in Fig. 1, and u on heating of such ilot burner by the p1lot flame the therma controlled element is bent and moves to t e right, occupying substantially thev position indicated in dotted lines at -8 in said figure. Suitable circuit -closing means are arranged for operation by the thermall controlled element, said means comprising or example, a pair of electric'al contactimembers 11 and 12, mounted on an insulating supporting block 60 which may be.

secured to plpe 46 by means of a setscrew 64. Said contact members are normall out of contact with each other so as to 1nterpose a break in the electrical circuit at this point, and are'adapted to be operated, so as to make contact, only upon the reverse movement of the thermally controlled means during cooling of the pilot burner resulting upon extinguishment thereof. Referring especially to Figures 2 and 3, the means provided for this purpose may comprise an opepating projection or lug 13 on contact 11,

pieces 15 upon which is pivoted a swingin" member or finger 16. I In the movement 0 the thermally controlled element to the right during heating of the pilot burner, such finger 16, upon engagement with lug 13, swings on its pivot 19 and passes over such lug without operation of contact 11 and therefore without closing the normally open break in the circuit between contact members 11 and 12. In the reverse movement of the thermally controlled element resulting from cooling due to extinguishment of the pilot flame, howevenfinger 16 again engages lug 13 and is in this case prevented from swinging on its pivot by engagement of its upper end 17 with the lower end 18 of member 14, so that the contact 11 is pressed down as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3 to make connection with contact 12 and thus close the circuit at this point.

The cut-off valve proper is located in the main gas supply pipe .3 and may be of any suitable construction, comprising, for example a casing 20 provided with a lateral extension 21 in which is journaleda shaft 22. An arm 23 is mounted upon said shaft and adapted to be moved therewith, for example, by engagement of a square opening 24 with a square portion 25 on said shaft. Said arm 23 carries a pair of valve members 26 adapted, upon movement of the valve to closed position, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 6, to engage the tapered valve seats 27 and thereby completely cut oil! the" 31 on a tripping member 32. When said arm is in this position the cut off valve is in normal or open position. The outer end of armor lever 30 mayextend beyond the catch 31 and may, be formed as a handle 30'. Electrically .joperated means are provided for moving member 32 so as to cause the catch 31 to release arm 30 and permit the latter to be moved by spring 33, which is coiled around shaft 22, so as to swing the cut off valve to closed position. The electrically operated means for this purpose may coinprise an electromagnet 34 mounted on a supporting plate 35, said supporting plate being for example mounted in turn on the casing 20 of the cut ofi' valve. The tripping member 32 may also be hinged as at 36 on supporting plate 35, the electromagnet 34 being mounted directly above said member 32 which constitutes an armature of the electromagnet so' that upon energization thereof said member 32 is raised, thereby permitting closure of the cutoff valve as above described. The electrical control circuit fgr operation of the electromagnetic means m y comprise a wire 37 leading from a suitable source of current (for example a battery, as indicated diagrammatically at 39) to contact 11, a wire 38 leading from contact 12 to one vided with contact means a end of the winding of the electromagnet 34 and a return connection from the other end of said winding to the source of current. Said return connection is referably progapted to break the circuit u on closing movement of the cut off valve. F or this purpose the return wire leading to the source of current may be connected to a contact member 41 adapted to make contact, when the device is in normal position, with a contact member 42 on arm 30, from which a wire 43 leads to electromagnet 34. Said contact members 41 and 42 are so located that the connection between them is broken upon movement of arm 30 to close the out 01f valve. Binding posts 48 and 49 may be connected to the respective ends of the electromagnet winding and may be adapted for connection thereto of wires 38 and43, and a binding post 50 may be connected to contact member 41 and adapted to receive wire 40, all of said binding ,posts being mounted for example on an insulating support 51' secured to the supporting late 35. The wires comprising the electrica circuit are preferably insulated and may if desired be encased in suitable insulating coverings53. v

A manual valve 45 maybe provided in pipe 46 for regulating the supply of gas to the pilot burner 6, and a manual valve 47 may also be provided in the main gas supply pipe 3 for regulating the supply of gas to both the main burner and the pilotburner or'for entirely shutting ofi all supply of gas electrical circuit closing means by the movement of the thermally controlled element 8. In this case the lower end of such element may be pointed or formed in such a way as to form a suitable tip 55 adapted'to engage an operating spring 56 secured to a contact arm 11 provided with a contact point 11. Said contact-arm and spring may be mounted on a block 57 pivoted at 58 on brackets 59 mounted on the insulating supporting block 60. Suitable spring means such as leaf s ring 61 may becprovided so as to engage lock 57 and hol the contact member 11 normally in open position. A stop 62 is provided for limiting the movement of block lever 30 is set 57 and the contact member carried thereby under the action of saidspring. In the movement of the thermally controlled ele-' ment to the right during heating of the pilot burner the tip 55 of such element engages the operating spring 56 but stop 62 prevents movement of the block 57 and spring 56 therefore yields sufficiently to permit the tip 55 to pass thereover to its normal position during the o eration of the burner. In case of extinguis ment of the burner flame the reverse movement of the thermally controlled element 8 will again cause the tip 55 to engage spring 56 and said spring is sufiicient y strong tocause the contact arm 11 to be pressed down against the resistance of sprm 61 so as to cause the contactpoint 11 to ma e connection with thus establishing the electrical circuit.

The operation of my improved safety pilot and cut off device is as fol'lows:

Upon first starting the burner the arm or or moved so as to open the cut-ofi' valve and close connection between contact members i1 and42, the weight of tripping member 32 causing said member contact member 12, v

to rest on said arm or lever sothat when the manually or by any of the above mentioned means which may be provided Manual cut-off valve 47 is then for that purpose. At the beginning of a such operation" the thermally controlled element occupies the position shown in, full lines in Fig. 1, but the heat-0f the pilot flame is conducted through'the walls of the pilot burner 6 or otherwise to said element and causes the same to bend and finally to move to the position indicated at 8. By either of the operating means above described for the circuit closer the thermally controlled element is permitted to move to this position without causing operation ofthe contact member 11 to close the break in the circuit at this point; This isqimportant for if such contact member were operated at this time the cut-off valve would be operated and both the main burner and pilot immediately extinguished, and in that case it would be necessary for one to manually hold the lever 30 so as to maintain the cut off valve in open position gardless of whether the main burner 1 is turned on or oil, for as stated said element receives its heat principally by conduction or otherwise from the pilot burner 6 and is only slightly affected by radiated heat from the main burner. Any tendency of such radiated heat from the main burner to affect the thermally controlled element is counteracted to a large extent by the effect of the cold a1r passing upward to the burner to support combustion of the gas. Valve 4 may therefore be operated at will or by suitable automatic or thermostatic control means so as to regulate the heating effected by burner 1 without causing any operation of the safety cut-off device. f

In case, however, while the main burner 1 is shut ofi, the pilot flame should be accidentally extinguished, for example, by a sudden gust of wind or by a cutting off of the gas supply at some point in the gas main, the pilot biu ncr and the thermally controlled element will immediately begin to cool OE and such element will return to its original position, the direction of this movement being to the left in Figs. 1 and 3. Such movement of the thermally controlled element will operate the circuit closer so as to make connection between contacts 11 and 12 as above described, which in turn will cause the lever 30 to be released, due to attraction of tripping member 32 by electromagnet 34, thus permitting spring 33 to move said lever so as to close the safety cut-off valve and to break the electrical connection between the circuit opening means comprising contact members 41 and 42. The gas supply will therefore be entirely out ofi from both the main burner and the pilot burner so that a subsequent opening of valve 4 will have no effect. This not only prevents the escape of gas through the pilot burner 6 upon extinguishment thereof, but also prevents the much larger and more dangerous loss of gas which would result in the absence of such a cut-oil device upon the reopening of valve 4 while the pilot flame was not burning. The breaking ofthe electrical connection also prevents waste of electricity and consequent weakenin of the battery 39, and also prevents oveiheating of electromagnet 34 which might resu t from continued passage of current therethrough. Upon discovery that the pilot flame is extinguished for example by observing a failure of the main burner to relight upon opening of valve 4: it is only necessa for one to again set lever 30 and relig it the burner as above described, the tripping device automatically returni-ng to normal position. The resetting of lever 30 not only restores the supply of gas to both the main burner and the pilot burner but again v places the electrical control circuit in normal condition, the connections being closed at the circuit opening switch comprising contacts 41 and 42 and open at the circuit closing switch comprising contacts 11 and 12. In this connection it should be noted that in the operation of the thermally controlled means during cooling, contact member 11 is first operated to close the break in the circuit at this point and said thermally controlled means then passes on and releases said contact member so as to again interpose a break in the electrical circuit. This is of great advantage since the fact that the circuit is automatically broken in this manner following closure of the cut-off valve permits said cut-oil valve to be reopened and the pilot burner relighted without the necessity of any manual operation other than to open said valve.

What 1 claim is:

l. A safety cut-off device for gas burners comprising in combination with a gas burner and means for supplying gas to said burner, thermally controlled means adapted to be heated by the flame at said burner and to be operated b the heat thus received, an electrical contro circuit including a source of current and also including circuit-closing means normally interposing a break in said circuit, said thermally controlled means being adapted, upon movement thereof during cooling due to extin uishment of said flame, to first operate said circuit-closing means so as to close said break in the circuit and then release said circuit-closing means so as to reopen said break in the circuit, and said circuit-closing means being adapted to be operated by said thermally controlled means so as to close said break in the circuit only during movement of said thermally controlled means upon cooling thereof, electro-magnetic means also included in said control circuit, and valve means in said gas supply means andadapted to be operated under control of said electromagnetic meansso as to cut off the supply of gas to the burner when said break in the circuit is closed.

2. A-safety cut-off device for gas burners comprising, in combination with a main burner and a pilot burner and means for supplying gas to said burners, thermally controlled means adapted to receive heat from a flame at the pilot burner and to be operated by' the heat thus received, an electrical control circuit, contact means included in said circuit and normally defining a break therein, electro-magnetic means also included in said control circuit, and valve means included in said gas supply means and operable under controliof said electro-magnetic means to cut oif the supply of gas upon closure of said normally open break in the control circuit, said thermally controlled means being adapted during cooling thereof to engage said contact means and operate the same to close said break in the circuit and being adapted during heating thereof to yieldingly engage said contact and pass out of such engagement While leaving said break in the circuit open.

3. A safety cut-oflt' device for gas burners comprising, in combination with a main burner and a pilot burner and means for supplying gas to said burners, thermally controlled means adapted to receive heat from .a flame at the pilot burner and to be operated by the heat thus received, an electrical control circuit, contact means included in said circuit and normally defining a break therein, electro-magnetic means also included in said control circuit, and valve means included in said gas supply means and operable under control of said eleetro-magnetic means to cut oil the supply of gas upon closure of said normally open break in the control circuit, said thermally controlled means being adapted to effect contact between said contact means and close the break in the. control circuitonly upon movement thereof during cooling and being adapted in such movement during cooling to first effect such contact and then break the same.

'In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 28th day of June HARRY V. PAYNE. 

